9 tracks. Running time 53:55 SonVer is the eponymous debut album by a duo going by the name SonVer. Said duo are Jo Quail and Ben McLess who employ electric cello, guitars, programming, and field recordings to create experimental ambient soundscapes. Sometimes they add a dash of industrial sounds to the atmosphere. Starting the album is “Anonima”. The cello imparts a forlorn mood to the proceedings against a setting of repeating bass notes and just heard voices like from low volume TV or radio. A similar piece called “Until The Stones Melt” comes further into the album. Here a walking bass and contemplative cello musing convey an image of walking through a bleak winter landscape hoping for spring to finally come and restore life. Use of the cello gives much of the album a slightly doleful feel, like watching a scene through a sepia filter. In contrast, other parts fling searing industrial effects about adding raw emotion. The piece “Khat Show Host” begins a slow musical walk with bass and fuzzy notes while a variety of recorded voices are heard in the background - acoustically like being in a large building such as a railway station. A simmering guitar line then adds to the mix. It all continues like this before a brief quiescence then all the elements are brought to the boil in intensity. What's good about this album is that the experimental side of things is held in check by half decent music which fits somewhere between melodic and doodling. It's also hovers between abstract and concrete which results in a feeling of mystery as though the actual thing being depicted is partially obscured. Listening to SonVer is akin to stepping through an aural modern art gallery. All of it piques a level of interest, and while some tracks mainly have curiosity value others are musically enjoyable.